Top Ten Tuesday

Hey there guys and gals, and welcome to another instalment of Top Ten Tuesday, hosted, as ever, by the fab The Broke and the Bookish. This week is a freebie week, which in one way is so pleasing because, you know, let your creativity flow and all that, but in another sort of intimidating because, well, what if you think of something that isn't good and that no one wants to read about? It's a tricky one! I thought that, since my it was my blog's first birthday last week, I'd talk about some of my favourite blogs, as well as the blogs that made me actually start blogging. Fun fact: I was trying to remember something about a Babysitters Club book when I stumbled across my very first book blog, and before then, I literally had no idea such a wondrous thing existed! From that point, I fell down a rabbit hole of book blogs, and a mere year and a quarter later, I started my own! So, yeah, it wasn't exactly an instantaneous thing or anything, but I still admired these blogs, and wouldn't have started mine if I hadn't found theirs. So, in no particular order, the:

Top (5) Blogs That Made Me Start Blogging


1. The Broke and the Bookish- I'm not trying to suck up or anything, but I used to read the Top Ten Tuesday posts every week, and go exploring on other blogs through this one. I probably wouldn't have found hardly any of the blogs I love without this as my initial starting off point, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

2. A Literary Odyssey- I was so drawn to the idea of having an actual goal and purpose to reading, a project of self-discovery through books was just an amazing idea to me, and Allie's reviews are always so well thought out and smart. A real blogging inspiration.

3. Dead White Guys- No matter how hard I try, I will never ever be as funny as Amanda. I had always thought of the classics as deserving of respect, whether I actually liked them or not, and through this blog, I learned that hey, it's ok to laugh at them a bit sometimes because hey, why be humourless about them? Just so so much fun.

4. Roof Beam Reader- I think I actually bookmarked this genuinely because I thought 'Oh my God, a guy! Blogging about books!' and, as I think you're all aware, that doesn't happen all that often! I kept returning because Adam's reviews are really really really smart, and give a really good indication about whether you're going to like a book or not. Which, you know, is perfect! (He also gets my undying love for introducing me to The Perks of Being A Wallflower, which, I may have mentioned, is now one of my very favourite books).

5. The Dairi Burger- An entire blog devoted to Sweet Valley High- my tween heart couldn't have wanted anything else! This blog probably has had the least influence on the way that I blog, but its existence alerted me to the existence of other blogs, which snowballed into other blogs, and so on, ad infinitum. So I probably owe it a lot, but above all, it's super duper awesome!

and my...

Top (5) Favourite Blogs (in no particular order)


1. Reading Rambo- Alice is the funniest and the nicest and her readalongs are the bestest! And, just as a general thing, if you're not reading her blog then you're not doing book blogging properly. Just sayin'.

2. What Red Read- Similarly, Alley is also amazing, and she always always always makes books sound like I want to read them (unless, obviously, she's saying they're rubbish), even if I've never heard of them before. I don't know how she does it, it's a gift!

3. Books Are My Boyfriends- Because I love the concept and I love the vlogs and I love the writing- it's really really great!

4. Nylon Admiral- Kayleigh is my Stephen King homegirl, and her Monday Links are always always always things I want to read, and that's not even an exaggeration. Also she's Australian, which I happen to find really cool, but probably only because I like watching Neighbours (I just realised most of my audience is American and so will have no idea what I'm talking about...)

5. Literary Musings- Brenna also always makes me want to read everything she says is good, I think possibly because she's super smart and manages to articulate how she feels about a book really well and succinctly. This isn't a skill I've picked up, unfortunately for all, but there's still time for me to learn!

ARGH, I feel brutal having only included five of my favourites because there are so many other book blogs I love pretty much equally! So, honourable mention to Booksessed (Jenn is my blogging BFF!), The Terrible Desire (a fairly new blog, also with a hilarious author!), Books I Done Read, Your Move, Dickens, and, well, just generally all the blogs I follow, really! Each have enriched my life and, you know, given me stuff to do. Which is good. So I love you all!